Poison of Zero
by Omega Deuse
Summary: What might happen if Halkeginia's Zero were to summon Terca Lumireis' Insipid Poison? This story is set in Halkeginia and uses characters from post game Tales of Vesperia.
1. Ch 1: Pink and Pink

**Pink and Pink**

****Disclaimer: Familiar of Zero/Zero no Tsukaima belongs to Noboru Yamaguchi. Tales of Vesperia belongs to Namco Bandai Games.

* * *

Terca Lumireis- Central Peyoccia Plains

She watched as the sun began to sink behind the distant mountains, her gaze following the last few rays of light as they streamed through a lonely pass to paint the fields of normally white flowers in brilliant shades of orange before finally coming to rest on her friend, giving the impression that the genius mage was being lit by the magical flames she was so fond of. The girl couldn't help but smile. For most, the coming of night was a time to seek shelter behind the walls of a city, even with the aer levels finally beginning to subside, but she didn't worry. The monsters in this region hadn't been a threat to her or her companion since their adventures three years ago.

"You know, I think I've finally cracked it." the other girl proclaimed as she stared across the field, towards the massive tree that once shielded the city of Halure.

"**O' my servant who exists within this unknowable universe"**

The pink haired girl started at the unexpected interruption, but her friend continued unperturbed.

"With just a little more work I should be able to make mana-cores."

"**You who art divine, who art beautiful, who art powerful"**

_What? Divine? Are they talking to me?_ She wondered as she began to look around for the source of the voice.

"Now I just need to figure out if I should go through with it..." her friend's tone dropped at that.

"**As I plead from the depths of my soul"**

_Can she not hear that?_

"I'm just worried they'll end up causing the same problems as the blastia."

"Rit—"

"**Heed my call and appear before me."**

"Hm? What is it?" Rita Mordio asked as she turned to her friend, only to find an empty field. The sole proof that she hadn't been talking to her self was a carelessly discarded basket of wild flowers, laying on its side in the grass.

"Estelle?"

Halkeginia- Tristain- The Tristain Academy of Magic.

Louise had studied countless tomes on familiars. Her grades, in the theory based classes, were the highest in the school, she already knew more about the familiar summoning ritual than any other student and, probably, some of the staff, but for the past few weeks she had thrown her self at her studies with an, almost, religious zeal.

She read the new books.

She read the old books.

She read the standard books.

She read the esoteric books.

She even read a few forbidden books.

She poured over every book on summoning or non-elemental magic that she could lay hands on. All for the sake of successfully summoning her familiar.

This was not normal, not by any stretch of the imagination. Then again, Louise was not an ordinary mage. Her peers would breeze through the ceremony, their success assured. For them, the only question was how powerful a familiar they would get. Only Louise, who had never successfully cast a spell, needed to worry.

They taunted her. That wasn't new, they always taunted her. They called her a failure. A menace. A Zero. Last night Kirche von Zerbst had gone so far as to suggest that she should just give up. That she shouldn't even bother attending the ceremony. If she failed she'd prove them right. Worse than that she'd be no better than a commoner pretending at nobility. A Disgrace to her family.

NO!

She couldn't bear to think of what awaited her should she fail. So, naturally, it had invaded her dreams.

For the last week she'd had nothing but nightmares filled with parents who disowned her and a Henrietta who wanted nothing to do with her. The only reprieve had come last night, when that dam von Zerbst's insults had incensed her to the point of swearing she would summon a spectacular familiar. More graceful and amazing than anyone else's. She had carried her rage with her to bed and dreamed of vengeance.

Of course, under the harsh light of day Tabitha had quickly put an end to her thoughts of righteous retribution by summoning a dragon, of all things. Even the Germanian hussy had managed to summon a salamander; it was probably male, curse those stupidly large boobs. By the time it came to her turn she was feeling sick to her stomach and willing to settle for anything, even if it was just a mouse or a frog. Anything would do, just so long as she summoned something.

She had not expected this 'something' to be an explosion. In retrospect she probably should have.

Now, as she waited for the dust cloud to clear, Louise was left to ponder whether failing out-right or succeeding but killing her familiar in the proses would be worse. Fortunately she didn't have to worry for very long. As the dust began to dissipate she caught sight of a silhouette on the ground, only for her breath to catch when she noticed the figures hair. It was a light pink, the same shade as her own. Commoners did not have hair that color.

_Oh no! If I've somehow summoned a noble—_

Her train of thought cut off abruptly as the rest of the figure's body became visible. She was wearing a red vest over a white blouse, with ruffled cuffs, and black slacks.

_There's no way a noble would where those cloths, no matter how well made they were. They look like something a servant would wear... Wait. If she's not a noble, that means I summoned a —_

"Well done Louise! Oh, this makes everything you said last night worth it! Too think you'd summon a commoner, it's certainly a spectacle" A smiling Kirche shouted, preempting the stunned pinkette's own thoughts.

Snapping out of her daze she retorted "Sh-Shut Up you stupid von Zerbst!"

While this was happening her familiar had pushed herself up into a siting position, with her legs forming a W underneath her. Rubbing her head she said "Itai. Nani ga okotta no ka?"

_What?_

"Ha, that's amazing! Not only did the Zero summon a commoner, she summoned a foreign one! It's fitting that the girl who can't cast a single spell should summon a completely useless familiar!" Another student shouted.

"SHUT UP!" Louise screamed.

The teacher decided to intervene before Louise could continue or an another student could insult her. Coughing to get the student's attention, the balding man said, "Miss Vallière, I'm afraid there's another class coming after us. You need to hurry and finish your contract." Despite his stern expression, his eyes were devoid of the scorn clearly displayed by most of the students; if anything, he looked relieved.;

Turning at this pronouncement Louise protested "Hold on, no ones ever heard of a human familiar. This must be a mistake. Please let me try again."

Running a hand back through his balding hair he sighed "I'm sorry miss Vallière, but I cannot allow that. The familiar summoning ritual is a sacred rite, it would be sacrilege to discard its results simply because they are inconvenient."

Seeing no alternative Louise huffed and walked over to her, now standing, familiar, grumbling the whole way.

"**I, Louise Françoise le Blanc de la Vallière, call upon you. Pentagon of the Five Elemental Powers grant your blessing to this humble creäture so she might serve as my totem."**

Once she finished the incantation Louise tapped her, soon-to-be, familiar's forehead with her wand and then, blushing furiously, she proceeded to kiss the other girl on the lips. Immediately Estelle's face turned a shade of red normally reserved for fruit and her eye's grew wide as she stumbled backwards to land on her rear. She managed to stutter out "W-w-what are you doing?"

Turning away from Estelle to hide her, rapidly darkening, blush Louise crossed her arms and replied "It was just for the ritual. Don't start... Wait a minute. I under stood that!"

"Oh! And I understood you t—" Estelle replied before clutching her left hand to her chest and hissing in pain as a series of runes carved themselves into her flesh. Hearing this Louise turned back towards her familiar, her embarrassment momentarily forgotten. A look of concern briefly flashed across her face before she remembered to mask it with the aloof detachment nobility and the Rule of Steel required.

Before she could think do anything else, Colbert called out "All right everyone, that's all for today. You're free to leave."

As the student's began to levitate back to the castle that served as their school, he walked over to Estelle. Crouching down next to her, he asked "Excuse me miss, but would you please allow me to take a look at your hand?"

Nodding, still unsure of what was going on, she cautiously extended her hand to the smiling teacher.

"Thank you." he said as he took her hand and proceeded to carefully transcribe the runes into a small notepad. Narrowing his eyes in thought he stood up and dismissed them "All right,that's all I needed." But before turning to go he smiled and added "I imagine today has been rather stressful for you two. You should head back to miss Vallière's dorm and get some rest. I'll send a maid up with dinner for the both of you." Having said everything he needed to Professor Colbert joined the rest of the class in levitating back to the castle.

Shaking off her momentary stupor Louise began her trudge back towards the main gate. When she didn't hear her familiar start to move after a few paces she called back, "Well, what are you waiting for? We're going."

_It's not like it's my fault that I can't fly._

"Hm? Oh, right. Coming." Estelle looked away from where she had been staring at the Professor's rapidly retreating form and pushed her self to her feet. Dusting off her dress before quickly catching up with Louise she shot a few more glances at where the other students were flying. "Um, excuse me, but I still have no idea what's going on."

Glaring at her familiar Louise huffed "I summoned you at The Springtime Familiar Summoning. That makes you my familiar. What else is there to understand."

"I see...", as she said this Estelle's brow furrowed in thought. "I guess we should introduce ourselves then... My name is Estellise Sidos Heurassein. It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Humph, I am Louise Françoise le Blanc de la Vallière..."

"Est-el-ease, that's a strange name."

"Is it? Most of my friends just call me Estelle, why don't you use that."

_Estelle... That is easier. Wait. I she Pitying me?_

"Don't don't treat me like one of your plebeian friends, Familiar. I'm your master and I won't allow you to address me as anything else."

Louise's sudden outburst caused Estelle to take a step back and raise a hand to her mouth. Despite this she quickly rebounded, "But if we're going to work together wouldn't things be so much easier if we were friends." Reaching out and taking both of Louise's hands in her own Estelle quirked her head to the side and unleashed a beatific smile before continuing, "Don't you want to be friends, Louise?"

_Cattleya?_

Blushing, Louise tried to recoil from the sudden attack, only to find her hands trapped in the older girls grip. She valiantly tried to resist, but the little mage never stood a chance; Estelle's pink hair and saintly visage reminded her to much of her beloved elder sister for Louise to deny the request. All she could manage was to stammer a quick "O-OK."

Jumping back Estelle clapped her hands and let out a happy "Yay!" before turning to skip towards the gate.

A very flustered Louise soon followed in her wake, steam slowly rising from her head.

_Oh god. She's like an energetic Cattleya._


	2. Ch 2: Pink Over Dinner

**Pink and Dinner**

* * *

As she reached the main gate Estelle paused to wait for her diminutive summoner to catch up. Resting her back against the arch Estelle took a breath and closed her eyes.

Even with everything she'd been through, getting summoned to a strange and being told she was a familiar was still a new and disorienting experience.

_All right, think Estellise. The last thing I remember before the explosion was walking with Rita and hearing that strange voice… That sounded like that girl's voice… But she sounded so desperate. What is going on here? For that matter were is here?_

"Hey! Familiar, what are you doing slacking off!" Louis shouted, breaking the displaced princess out of her revery.

When she opened her eyes Estelle was met with the imperious gaze of her tiny summoner, who had finally caught up with her and was now standing arms akimbo, staring up at the taller girl.

"Hmm? Oh! I'm sorry, I was just trying to organize my thoughts. Today has been rather… unusual." Estelle replied as she pushed her self off from the wall.

"Humph. Just keep up from now on." the younger girl ordered as she began walking towards the castle proper.

Estelle dutifully followed, falling into step behind and to the right of her nominal master. _It might be a good thing Rita isn't here. She would have attacked this girl three times over by now, consequences be damned._ The displaced princess smiled as her memories drifted back to her adventures with Brave Vesperia and how Rita was never shy about letting Karol or Raven know when they had done something that annoyed her.

Unfortunately, apprehension soon overwhelmed her good mood and after walking in silence for a few minutes Estelle decided to ask one of the questions that had been bothering her. "Um… Louis… I'm sorry to bother you, but I've been wondering since I got here. Where are we?"

Turning to face her follower and striking a triumphant pose, with one hand on her hip and the other raised to point at Estelle, "Be honored familiar, for you have been summoned to the Tristain Academy of Magic." She let her outstretched hand fall when she realized her declaration was being met with an uncomprehending stare. "Its the foremost magic academy in Tristain." Seeing as this only caused the other girl to blink in confusion Louise's shoulders slumped before she continued "On the continent of Halkeginia?"

Still nothing.

Louis let out a defeated sigh before suddenly perking up as a new idea occurred to her. Clapping her fist into her hand Louis rallied "Actually, that makes sense. When you first got here you were speaking a language I've never heard before. Now that I think about it, it's really not all that surprising that you've never heard of Halkeginia. If you're from that far away-"

Louis trailed off as she realized Estelle was shaking her head, "No, that's impossible. I've been all around the world and I've never heard of Halkeginia or Tristain." the older girl rebuffed.

"Well if you're homeland is from far enough away you still might not have heard of Halkeginia." the younger girl reasoned.

"You seem to have misunderstood me. I've literally been all the way around the world and I've visited every continent." _Besides, only a Child of the Full Moon should be able to use artes without blastia and there's no way every one in that field was a one._

"Wha-what?!" Louis boggled. "How?!"

"Oh, um, a friend of mine owns a rather impressive flying ship." Estelle explained. _It's__ not like it's that odd. Some of the larger monsters might have caused problems, but I'm sure there are dozens of members of Fortunes Market or the Knights who could make similar claims._

"I see... So does that mean you used to be some kind of merchant?" Louis asked as she eyed the older girl's clothing a second time and paled a little.

Estelle quirked her head at her summoner's odd reaction, but put her curiosity aside for the moment. "No, I actually write children's books. It's just that my friends and I… Went on an adventure several years ago." Estelle hedged. Most people understood that the destruction of all the blastia had been necessary, but there were still those who blamed Brave Vesperia for their new troubles and since she had no idea where she was or who these people were Estelle reasoned that it might not be a good idea to reveal her involvement in the catastrophe three years ago.

"I see…" Louis responded, lacking for any real response to her familiar's latest revelation. Without a way to continue the conversation the pair lapsed into silence, until they reached Louise's room.

When they got there the shorter pinkette quickly strode to the coffee table in the center of the room, where she promptly took a seat and placed one hand on her chin in thought. Meanwhile, Estelle took the opportunity to analyze her master's dorm. It was a far cry from her home in Halure, but that was to be expected; after all, this was just a one person dorm in a stone castle while her house was a standalone structure that she shared with Rita and, like all the houses in Halure, was grown from a living tree. Still, with its central coffee table, four post bed, private bathroom and small desk it was a rather well appointed dorm. The only thing that didn't speak of an upper class life was the pile of straw on the floor next to the bed.

Estelle was really beginning to wonder about what went through her nominal master's head.

* * *

Louis was racking her brain. Had been racking her brain, ever since her familiar had claimed to have circumnavigated the world. It didn't make any sense. She'd never heard of anyone going all the way around the world; people barely made it past the elves. Louis would have simply assumed that her familiar was lying if not for the matter of fact, almost off-handed, way the other girl described her journey. As if accomplishing something that even the royal families couldn't had been trivial; a mere detail to be acknowledged and then forgotten, the way a noble might treat a trip to Romalia. It was fantastic enough that a bunch of magic-less commoners had been able to secure such an amazing airship, let alone chart a course through unmapped elvish territories…

"I've got it!" Louis shouted as she slammed her hands into the table and pushed herself into a standing position; startling Estelle, who had been studying the desk. "Maybe you just went in a giant circle and only thought you went around the world." Louis knew little about navigation or airships and had never taken one as far as Albion and that had only happened once, when she was much younger, but it seemed eminently reasonable to her that you could fly one in a giant ellipse and confuse it with a trip around the world. Especially if you lacked The Creator's guidance and relied on commoners to navigate.

Estelle shook her head and began to walk towards the window as she explained, "We had a fairly easy time tracking our progress on a world map and, even with out that, the temperature changes fairly drastically the closer you—"

"The closer you what?" Louis turned to find her familiar standing rigid by the, now open, window, "Um… Estelle… Are you okay?"

In response, the Estelle mechanically raised one of her hands to point out the window and ask, "What is that!?"

"Hmm?" Growing concerned with the other girls odd behavior, Louis rushed to her side in the hopes of seeing what had frightened her familiar. Unfortunately, she found nothing out of the ordinary. The window opened onto a picturesque scene of the castle's courtyard, which was deserted save for a few students wandering with their familiars, surrounded by the school's walls and then the Forrest, all shaded in the slightly golden-orange light of early evening. After trying again, this time taking extra care to trace the line Estelle's outstretched finger described, Louis was still coming up blank. It almost seemed as if the older girls was pointing at "The moons?" which were just faintly visible at the edge of the horizon. "I hope you don't expect me to believe this is the first time you've seen the moons Familiar."

"But there are two of them!" Estelle explained with a strangled cry.

"Of course there're two of them. How many were you expecting?" _Don't__ tell me I summoned a crazy familiar._

"What?" Estelle turned to stare at her summoner, bewilderment clearly written across her face for the moment it took for her to regain control of her features. "Wait, Louis, would you mind telling me if a few words sound familiar to you?"

_Is she trying to make a fool of me?… But she does seem genuinely worried…_

"Alright Familiar," Louis huffed "but you better not be trying to play a trick me."

"Thank you. And don't worry, I'm not. Let's start with blastia."

"Nope." Louise responded, shaking her head.

"Entelexeia?" Estelle pressed on.

"No. Are you making these words up?"

"No. Mana?"

"No."

"Aer"

"The stuff we breath?"

"A-E-R, not A-I-R. They're different."

"Oh… No."

"The Adephagos?"

"The what?"

"Giant eldritch monstrosity that took up the whole sky and almost destroyed the whole world a few years back."

"What! No! Of course not! Why would I know anything about something like that?"

"It took up the whole sky and almost destroyed the world?"

"Look, I'm sure, what ever it was, it was very large and scary, but I sincerely doubt it could have destroyed the whole world."_ Besides, mother would have stopped it, if it had been an actual threat. _"And you really can't expect me to know of every local monster from wherever it is you're from."

"Actually, I'm beginning to think you might not know any of the monsters from where I'm from… Louise, have you ever heard of the Familiar Summoning Ritual calling people from other worlds?"

"…" That caught the younger girl off guard and she had to think for a moment before she could respond, "No… At-least I don't think so. Normally it only summons beasts so it would be hard to tell… Actually, I've never heard of it summoning a human before…" As Louise trailed off in thought she brought her right hand up to stroke her chin before the implications of her new familiar's last question sunk in, "Wait a second! You don't expect me to believe you're from another world, do you? That's absolutely ridiculous." Now brandishing her wand at the older girl Louise continued, indignantly. "A familiar who tries to make a fool of its master get's punished. Understand!" _Great, now even my own familiar's making fun of me._

"Hold on a second." Estelle quickly raised her hands, palms out, in a placating gesture, "I know it sounds outlandish, but I wasn't trying to trick you. It's just that—" Before she could finish trying to diffuse the situation a knock sounded at the door.

"Get the door, Familiar. That's probably the food Professor Colbert said he'd have sent up." Louise huffed, crossing her arms and turning her head to the side.

"Louise…" The older girl pouted briefly before getting up from the window to do as she was instructed.

_Is she actually trying to convince me she's from another world?_

After crossing the room Estelle opened the door to find a maid with chin length black hair pushing a trolly loaded with food.

Hesitantly the maid asked, "Excuse me miss, is this Lady de La Vallière's room?" clearly thrown off by Estelle's presence. "I was sent to deliver some food."

"Yes it is, please come in." The pink haired girl responded as she stepped aside and opened the door all the way, so the maid could get through.

"Oh, I had heard a rumor that she had summoned a human familiar, but I didn't know if it was true." As the maids eyes took in the other girl's cloths it was clear that what she had really been expecting was some sort of commoner, not someone who looked like a Germanian noble who had lost her mantle.

"Yup, my name is Estelle. It's a pleasure to meet you." Estelle said as she clasped her hands and bowed slightly.

Blushing lightly the maid tried to respond "Ah, my name is -" *Erhem* Before being cut off by Louise clearing her throat.

"Stop fraternizing with the help, Familiar." the petite mage interjected from where she remained seated on the bed.

*Eep* at the sound of the hitherto unnoticed Noble girls injunction the maid began to frantically transfer the plates, glasses and silverware from the trolley to the table. As soon as her task was completed she scurried out of the room, taking the trolley with her.

After closing the door behind the rapidly retreating servant Estelle took a seat at the table. "You know, you really should be nicer to the serving staff." The older girl admonished.

"Why should I. You said you're from another world didn't you? How do you know it's not considered impolite to talk to the help." _Grah! In subordinate familiar. First she tries to make a fool of me and then she lectures me._ For a second Louise considered what her mother would do in her place, but only for a second; after all, the Rule of Steel leaves very little room for interpretation or uncertainty. _I'll show her who's boss_. "Speaking of being impolite," She continued, "A familiar should never be seated before it's master. As punishment, you wont be having dinner tonight!" Louise ended her edict behind her chair, one handed cocked on her hip, the other pointed, triumphantly, up at the ceiling.

Estelle just stared at Louise for a moment before responding with a terse "No." her normally inexhaustible patience beginning to fray, she went on "I am not some dog that you can refuse to feed whenever I annoy you"

_You should have been. Anything would have been better than a commoner. It didn't really have to be something grand like a dragon, even a toad or a mouse would have been fine. At-least they would have been proper familiars._

Louise wanted to scream, to tell her insubordinate familiar that she stood no higher than a beast, but her pink hair and normally kind face made the younger girl hold her tongue. It was just to easy to picture the inevitably hurt and disappointed expression on her beloved older sister's face. "and, even if I were, that punishment is completely unreasonable. Louise, did I do something to offend you?"

"You mean besides try to make a fool of me? Clearly I was being to lenient if you thought you could get away with claiming to be from another world. I won't make that mistake again."

"Louise." The older girl deflated a little on hearing her, nominal, master's reasoning. "I really do think this might be another world. Your magic seems to be completely different, you haven't heard of any recent major events and I haven't heard of your country before. You even have a different number of moons. Can you think of any better explanations?" Estelle challenged, but the younger girl quickly replied,

"You could be lying."'

"Why would I lie about that? For that matter, why would I want to make fun of you. I've only just met you."

_Because every one else does. Because I'm a failure._ Louise didn't say what she was thinking, instead she said, "How should I know, but it's a lot more believable than you being from another world."

Estelle sighed, "If I'm really such an undesirable familiar why don't you just send me back and summon a new one. I'm sure my friends are worried enough as it is."

Louise almost winced at the reminder that her familiar was a human with friends and family that would probably be missing her, assuming they weren't panicking over her sudden disappearance.

Instead she feigned annoyance, turning her nose up and to the side. "Believe me, I would, but the familiar summoning ritual is a one way spell and I can't try it again unless you die."

"Well, that's not really an option..." Estelle replied and then, lacking anything to follow it, began to pick at her food. Louise soon followed suite

After eating in silence for a few minutes Estelle spoke up again, "Look, this isn't really getting us anywhere. I can't really prove I'm from another world and, even if I could, you don't sound like you'd be able to do anything about it. Hopefully my friends back home will be able to figure something out or we'll stumble across something eventually. In the meantime why don't you tell me what familiars normally do."

"All right, I guess that sounds reasonable..." Louise hedged. _Wait a minute._ "You said that your friends might be able to figure something out. Does that means you're friends with a mage?"

"Hm? Oh, yes. My best friend, Rita, is probably one of the greatest mages in the world." the older girl answered, perking up significantly at the mention of her friend.

_One of the best mages in the world?... Is she even trying anymore?_ "So you're supposedly friends with a world class mage, but you don't know what familiars do?" Louise countered.

"Well, mages in my world don't really use familiars, the closest things I've ever seen are probably Ba'ul or Repede, but neither Judith nor Yuri are really mages." Estelle supplied.

"You do realize that doesn't make your story any easier to believe." The younger girl nearly exploded. "If you're going to lie to... me..." Louise trailed off as she caught site of the glare the other girl was shooting at her. Estelle hadn't done anything that could be considered hostile. In fact, aside from picking on her (which everyone did anyways), she was probably one of the nicest people Louise had ever met. Still, even though she would never admit it, even to her self, something in Estelle's glare made all of her noble instincts scream "Shut up and move on." And that is precisely what she did.

*Erhm* Coughing to cover her reaction Louise continued "Right... A familiar's most important job is proving that a noble is actually a mage and giving some indication of what element they specialize in. Beyond that they can do other things like share their senses with their master, protect their master from danger or collect regents. Unfortunately, since you're a human you probably can't do any of that. I know I already tried sharing senses and that failed."

*Ehe* Estelle tried to laugh-off her summoner's brazen admission to attempting to violate her privacy on such a basic level, instead saying "Well I do know how to fight, but I don't really like hurting people. I also don't know what type of regents you use or where they could be found around here."

Louise responded "That can't be helped. I doubt you'd be able to do much against a wolf any ways... What?!" For some reason the older girl seemed to be struggling not to laugh.

"It's nothing, don't worry about it." she didn't explain as she regained control of her features. "If I can't actually do any of that, what will I be doing."

"I don't know. I suppose you could handle simple chores like doing the laundry..."

"Really." Estelle pouted, "Wouldn't something like that be better left the serving staff who actually know where the cleaning supplies are? Couldn't I do more useful things like help you with research or at least run errands? Even if I don't know where to find regents I can still buy them from a store."

"Hmpf. I'll think about the errands, but I doubt you'd be much help with research." _Especially since I don't do any._

"At the very least I could help with taking notes; I am an author after all, I am good at writing. But I guess that's all I can really ask for right now." the older girl replied as she finished her meal.

Louise pushed away her own, now empty, plates before leaning back and stretching into a yawn. "Well, now that that's settled we should start getting ready for bead; the Familiar Summoning Ritual takes a ton of energy. You can put those plates in the hall while I'm getting changed. Hopefully that maid will be by to pick them up before morning." After giving her instructions Louise got up from the make shift dinner table and made her way over to the dresser to begin changing into her night cloths while Estelle quickly moved to comply with out commenting.

As she finished dressing Louise turned to find her familiar still peeking out the door, "Fa... Estelle, what are you doing? It shouldn't take that long to put the plates out." the younger girl demanded.

Quickly pulling her head back into the room, the older girl responded, "I was just making sure the plates wouldn't trip any one." A look of relief briefly crossed Estlle's face when she saw that Louis was, once more, fully dressed.

_Hmph, I suppose that's ok. It would reflect poorly on me if someone got hurt because I decided to take supper in my room instead of the dining hall._ As she turned and walked to her bead Louis said "Very well. I'm tired now; we'll talk more about your role as my familiar in the morning." However, she paused before getting in when she noticed her familiar was still standing by the door fidgeting slightly, "Is something wrong?"

"Umm, I still don't have a place to sleep or any night cloths." Estelle responded.

Louise looked towards the pile of straw she had intended to use as bedding for her familiar, but before she could suggest Estelle sleep on it she was assaulted by images of Cattleya sleeping there instead; her imagination helpfully deciding to add a dog collar, chain and a few sickly coughs just for good measure. _Brimir damn it. I'm going to end up spoiling her. _"You'll just have to wear your normal cloths, but you can sleep with me tonight and we'll see about having another bed sent up for you tomorrow."

Clasping her hands in-front of her face and wincing slightly Estelle ask "Are you sure there's nowhere else I could sleep? Maybe there are free beds in the servants quarters?"

_Is she saying my bed isn't good enough for her?! _Louise exploded, "What's wrong with my bed?! You should feel honored that a noble is offering to share her bed with you." _You should have been a dog, you stupid commoner. _"I was expecting an animal, but if my sleeping arrangements aren't up to your standards you're more than welcome to use the ones I prepared for a proper familiar!" Louise all but shouted as she pointed to the incongruous pile of straw. _See if I'm ever nice to you again._

With her final ultimatum issued Louise turned around and violently ripped the covers off her mattress before practically throwing herself under them.

Estelle winced at other girl's diatribe, but she removed her vest and draped it over one of the chairs at the coffee table with little more than a sigh. She went to join her new master in slumber, grateful that the young mage had turned out the lights at some point so at-least her blush would be hidden.

* * *

Author's notes:

First, let me start by saying that I am quite sorry for taking so long to update this story. For those of you who are wondering if I'm going to drop it: don't worry, I have ideas up through the first half of the second season, so I don't plan on going anywhere soon. Come December I intend to create and stick to a more regular schedule. Unfortunately I intend to participate in NaNoWriMo, so don't expect to much from me during November.

Second, I would like to thank those of you who reviewed. I always appreciate constructive criticism and advice.

I think I'm to try and find a beta to help proof this story because a rather large part of the delay was caused by me rereading pieces (and I still can't help but feel that some of it doesn't flow properly). If any one would like to volunteer or make a recommendation please drop me a pm or mention it in a review, other wise I'll just search through the listed betas on FF.

Next time:

Estelle meets a maid.

Estelle also meets Guiche.

Louise begins to suspect that she didn't summon a commoner.


End file.
